Hitach has announced a major expansion of its strategic alliance with Google Cloud — extending from AI-driven software modernization to frontline operations in energy, railways, and manufacturing.
The collaboration will develop AI agents tailored for on-site tasks, using Google Cloud’s Gemini, a multimodal AI capable of understanding text, images, audio, and video. Through Gemini Enterprise, even non-technical users can build AI agents via no-code interfaces, streamlining workflows and accelerating digital transformation.
Agent Factory: Accelerating AI Development
To drive this vision, Hitachi has set up the “Agent Factory,” an AI agent development environment powered by Google Cloud. It enables fast, secure creation of agents customized for specific field tasks. By combining Google Cloud’s AI technologies with Hitachi’s domain expertise and data governance, the alliance makes AI adoption viable even in sensitive operational areas.
Applying Gemini to frontline environments represents a breakthrough for traditionally manual, data-restricted sectors.
Customer Zero: Building from Within
Hitachi is implementing a “Customer Zero” approach—first deploying AI agents internally across Hitachi Group companies before external rollout. This will help democratize AI, allowing employees to develop their own solutions using no-code tools.
Subsidiary GlobalLogic Inc., a global Google Cloud partner and launch partner for Gemini Enterprise, is spearheading deployment and integration. Together, Hitachi and GlobalLogic aim to foster ground-up innovation and share successful use cases with customers.
Addressing Labor Gaps in Infrastructure
Industries like energy and manufacturing are facing mounting challenges from labor shortages and an aging workforce. Building on their 2024 alliance, Hitachi and Google Cloud are combining Hitachi’s industrial depth with Google Cloud’s AI innovation to tackle these issues.
Jun Abe, Executive Vice President of Hitachi, said:
“We see AI not just as a tool, but as a partner that extends human capabilities. Expanding AI into the OT domain helps us create workplaces where humans and AI collaborate on high-value tasks. Under our Inspire 2027 vision, evolving Lumada with AI is a key step toward a Harmonized Society.”
Hiroyuki Koike, Managing Director, Customer Engineering, Google Cloud Japan, added:
“Through our partnership with Hitachi, we’re helping organizations harness advanced generative AI to build, implement, and manage projects at scale.”
Use Case: Smarter Maintenance at Hitachi Power Solutions
Hitachi has launched a proof-of-concept at Hitachi Power Solutions Co., Ltd. to apply Gemini-powered AI agents in maintenance operations. The pilot focuses on inspecting vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs)—vital power distribution components—where small human errors can cause major issues.
Technicians now upload before-and-after images of maintenance work, and the AI agent flags inconsistencies in real time, reducing oversight and improving accuracy. Designed with simple prompts and example-based learning, the solution allows on-site teams to adjust and retrain agents independently, advancing Hitachi’s goal of AI democratization.
Next, Hitachi plans to extend AI agents to analyze video data, ensuring safe work procedures, issuing alerts, and even generating automated maintenance reports—helping capture field expertise and ease technician workloads.
